TheSurrenderofLacyMorgan (7 page)

“Or true fear,” Dakota suggested.

With a lifted brow, Quinn shook his head. “You think with
your heart too much.”

“And you with your temper.” He knew his blood brother’s
cynicism came from old emotions he’d buried deep inside, as well as fresh pain
over the Captain’s death. “You know we’re going to have to strip her of what’s
holding her back, loyalty or fear, or she’ll never help us.”

“You’re wrong. She has motivation. She doesn’t want to hang.
That should be motivation enough.”

“You’re the one that has it wrong. Either way, she’s got to
trust us completely before we find Devil’s lair or none of us are getting out
of there alive.”

“We’ll see.” Quinn just stared ahead at the trail.

Dakota let the subject drop. In all the years he’d known
Quinn, he’d never seen him this stubborn on a matter.

Another hour and several miles up the trail, Dakota glanced
back to check on Lacy once more. Despite the chill in the air, the
late-afternoon sun had lulled her into dozing, startling awake every few
moments. Her hair shone like dark copper in the sun. He remembered how soft it
felt in his hands last night. All those soft curls made him want to grip his
hands in them as he thrust deep into her mouth. Then he thought about the dark
coppery curls between her thighs, and how she’d tasted as he coaxed the climax
from her.

They needed her to confide in them with the information to
bring Devil down. Despite his conversation with Quinn earlier, he knew the only
way they could bring that about was to take her over the brink, until she
trusted them with the very core of her being. One step at a time they’d draw
her closer to them. After her responses to their first lesson in submission
last night, how would she respond tonight?

Need slammed hard into his cock. He wanted to sink deep
inside her. Bury to the hilt, feel her hot, soft folds clench tight around him
as he drove in and out until he came. But that wouldn’t happen until he and
Quinn decided she was ready to accept their total control over her. And that
would take time.

Lacy’s head bobbed and she started to slide sideways in the
saddle, only to startle awake and grab at the pommel.

“She needs to rest,” he said to Quinn.

“If memory serves me right, there’s an area up this next
ridge where the river widens. We could make camp there.” He turned in his
saddle and saw her fighting to stay mounted. “You want to lead her and I’ll go
set up camp?”

As much as Dakota wanted to let Quinn hunt for their dinner
tonight, he didn’t trust himself to be alone with their sultry prisoner. At
least not while the throbbing hunger continued between his thighs.

“No, I’ll take the lead. You’ll just end up burning the
food.” He moved his horse in front of Quinn’s. “Besides, a cold bath in the
river will feel good after riding the past few days.”

Quinn chuckled as Dakota rode up the ridge. His friend didn’t
fool him. He knew exactly why a cold bath sounded good, and the bulge in his
pants thought it did too.

Stopping a moment to give Dakota a head start, he watched
Lacy, eyes closed, swaying slightly in her saddle. The gold chains of her
necklace glittered against her bronze skin in the sun. The shirt she wore was
open to the point that the swells of her breasts were very pronounced. Riotous
copper curls hung down her back and shoulders.

Dakota’s warning to go slow resonated in him. He might not
like it, but his brother was right. They had to reduce her to her basest needs,
meet them, then build her trust in them before they reached Devil’s lair. None
of them would survive if they didn’t.

Memories of holding her soft body during the night sent even
more blood racing to his cock. She was built for a man’s lust, but right now
she also looked in need of refreshing.

Like a cool bath in a mountain stream.

The corner of his mouth lifted as a plan formed. He gave a
tug to her horse’s lead and started up the path behind Dakota.

It was time for Lacy to have her second lesson.

* * * * *

The swaying came to a stop. Lacy tried to open her eyes, but
it was just too much effort. Something tugged at her foot. Her boot came loose,
then the other one.

“Time to wake up, sweetheart.”

The deep voice rumbled across her skin like thunder over the
mountains before a storm. She shivered. Warm hands lifted her bound hands from
the pommel, then gripped her around the middle and pulled her downward. Her
legs hardly held her and she slumped into Quinn’s hard body. Finally she was
able to open her eyes, finding herself staring up into his intense blue ones.

“Where are we?”

“Near the Big Horn River. We crossed over into Wyoming
Territory a few hours ago.”

God, help her! They were headed into the mountains.
Southwest. Like she’d told them when they tortured her last night. They’d find
Devil’s hideout for sure and hand her over. The knowledge woke her up faster
than a slap to the face.

She started to back away but he snagged her by her bound hands,
pulling her up against his body.

“Shh, sweetheart. There’s nothing here to hurt you and
there’s no place to run.” He sounded as if he were talking to a skittish mare.
The soft, deep cadence of his voice and his big hands rubbing her back quickly
settled her nerves.

Her hands trapped between their bodies, she lifted her gaze
to his. Pleading with her eyes. “If I tell you exactly where the hideout is,
will you let me leave?”

“I can’t do that, kitten. Dakota and I swore to bring all
those involved in the bank robbery and murders to justice.”

“Including me.” Her heart sank. “Then I have no reason to
cooperate.”

“You weren’t in the bank when the shooting happened.
Cooperate with us and we’ll talk to the judge. Maybe he’ll reduce your time in
jail.” A slow smile spread over his face, the kind that caused tension to coil
low in her gut and heat to spiral outward to all her female parts. “Oh you
will
cooperate, eventually. We’ll enjoy coaxing all that cooperation out of you.”

Slanting his head sideways, he captured her lips with his.
Gentle pressure. Tongue stroking. Demanding entrance. Finally, she parted her
lips at his insistence. And he dove in like a knight storming her defenses.
Claiming her as his.

Just when she wanted to whimper for more, he pulled back, his
lips lingering tenderly against her bruised ones for a moment longer.

Slowly she opened her eyes. Gone was the smile. Instead a
hunger she’d never seen before filled his features.

He stepped back and grasped her by her tethered hands once
more. “Come with me. I have something to show you that you might enjoy.”

What did they have planned for her this time? Her pulse
skipped a beat, then sped as if she’d been running for miles. He pulled her
past the small fire Dakota had started toward the sound of the river beyond the
rocks in the bend ahead.

At the riverbank, Quinn stopped her, pulling her back
against his chest. He pointed to the water. “Look.”

There, naked in the flowing water, stood Dakota, his back to
them, his long dark hair wet and hanging halfway down his back. And what a back
it was. Deeply defined muscles, wide at the shoulders and tapered to the curve
of his buttocks, just barely visible beneath the water.

Lacy couldn’t take her eyes off him as he dipped and cupped
water over his head. “What’s he doing?”

“He worships the elements.” Quinn skimmed his hands up from
her waist to stroke just under the swell of her breasts. “Air, wind, fire,
water.”

Slowly Dakota turned to face them. A long jagged scar
extended over his chest down to his right hip, its raised white edges stood out
angry against his golden brown skin.

She sucked in her breath at the sight. “How did that
happen?”

“When his mother and father died, he went to find his
father’s family. His grandfather didn’t want to have anything to do with a
‘half-breed’. So he took his sword to him, nearly cutting him in half.”

“Couldn’t he defend himself?” A sick feeling swirled in her
stomach.

“He was only twelve.”

“Dear God! How did he survive?”

“He crawled to the next farm where the farmer took pity on
him, brought him in to the doc in town. Doc sewed him up and that’s when the
Captain stepped in.”

“The Captain?”

“My foster father. He took Dakota in and we’ve been brothers
ever since.” Slowly Quinn moved his hands up to cup her breasts, gently
kneading them.

His breath feathering over her skin reawakened the need
inside her as his hands found both nipples, plucking them like strings on a
musical instrument. As Quinn strummed her body, Dakota took another step
closer, the water flowing off his hips, his fully erect cock jutting out from
his body.

“He’s magnificent, isn’t he?” Quinn whispered in her ear,
then slowly pulled her earlobe between his teeth.

“Yes,” she whispered back, desire racing through her and
pooling between her legs.

“Would you like to touch him?”

“Yes…no…I can’t.” Although she denied her desire, her
traitorous hands ached to stroke Dakota’s smooth chest and caress the horrible,
angry scar, then explore his cock from tip to base. She might’ve given her body
and virtue to Santos, the man who betrayed her, but in so many ways she was as
innocent as a virgin. She’d never really touched or held a man in such a carnal
way.

“It’s okay to give in to your desires, Lacy,” Dakota said,
as if he read her thoughts. He stopped in front of her, the tip of his erection
pressing into her abdomen. Grasping her bound hands, he lifted them to rest
against his chest. “Trust us,” he whispered, seconds before he claimed her
lips.

Oh God, what were they doing to her? With Quinn kissing her
ear, sending delightful shivers of pleasure though her with each pinch of her
nipples, she couldn’t think straight. Dakota’s kiss—as deep and passionate as
Quinn’s had been—pulled her into a maelstrom of emotions.

“Go ahead, darlin’, let your fingers feel how warm and hard
he is,” Quinn suggested as his tongue caressed her ear and his fingers pinched
each nipple a little harder. “He’s all yours to play with as you like.”

She wanted to fight them, surely she did, but Dakota slipped
his tongue inside her lips to stroke hers. Teasing, touching, claiming every
little moan that escaped her.

Slowly, she managed to spread her hands enough so that just
her fingertips touched his warm skin. At her touch, Dakota moaned and released
his hold on her hands, running his own down her sides to her hips.

The sound of this powerful man deriving pleasure from just
her touch gave Lacy courage. She let her fingertips slide down the smooth
planes of his chest until they came in contact with the raised flesh of his
jagged scar.

At her touch there Dakota clenched at her hips, pulling her
in against him. Quinn slid his lips down her neck. Releasing one tender nipple,
he pulled her curly hair off to one side and latched on to her neck. Slowly he
suckled down until he met her shoulder. More frissons of pleasure soared
through her.

“Lower, darlin’. Feel all of him.”

She followed Quinn’s instructions, tracing the scar over the
rippled muscles of Dakota’s abdomen with her fingers until they came in contact
with the pointed tip of his swollen cock.

“God, yes,” Dakota hissed. The sound thrilled her, making
her want to be bolder.

Her fingers danced over his cock head. Warm. Silken, yet
strong. The tip like hot satin. Then she let her fingers slide down the rigid
shaft, feeling the veins and each ripple of his engorged state.

Cool air danced over her breasts. Quinn had unbuttoned her
shirt and untied her camisole, allowing them to hang loose off her shoulders.
Then he slipped his hands down to move her skirts and drawers over her hips.

“Step out of them.”

She should protest, refuse, but Dakota’s deep moaning as she
stroked him from base to tip made her body obey as much as Quinn’s sultry
commands. Standing in the cold mountain stream, half dressed, she was warmed by
the bodies of both men pressed against her.

Quinn slipped his hands off her breasts and up her arms to
her shoulders. Gently she felt him push downward.

“On your knees.”

He held her as she broke the kiss with Dakota and awkwardly
lowered into the cold water, sand and pebbles digging into her knees.

“Taste him.”

“I can’t.” She knew what they wanted her to do. Even though
more than one woman had been used by Devil’s men in such fashion, she’d thought
the act disgusting. Or maybe it was the men? None was as beautiful or as
arousing as the two holding her captive.

“Take him in your mouth. Pleasure him,” Quinn whispered in
her ear.

She gazed up at Dakota, who had his hands on her head,
neither trapping nor forcing her. Pure hunger filled his eyes, need etched his
face. The musky scent of his arousal filled her senses. Clean. Masculine.
Lusty.

Her eyes never leaving his face, she slipped her tongue out
to stroke around the head.

His fingers clenched in her hair as he sucked in air. The
desire in his eyes deepened, his mouth open as he watched her.

The desire to please him soared through her, erasing all
fear of what lay ahead. Slowly she slipped her lips over the head and sucked
just the tip of him into her mouth.

“Oh God, yes!” Dakota’s eyes closed for a moment.

All the pain in her knees was forgotten, any humiliation at
kneeling between two men gone, replaced by the need to take him farther into
her mouth. With shaking hands, she stroked the length of him as she slid her
mouth over his shaft.

Chapter Four

Damn, she looked so beautiful kneeling in front of Dakota,
sucking him deeper and deeper. Quinn stepped away to remove his boots, laying
them on the dry bank along with Lacy’s skirt. As he removed his shirt and
pants, he watched his blood brother’s body thrust forward and drive more of his
cock into the redhead’s pursed lips.